Altoona, PA Railroad Yard Accident, Dec 1945

Altoona, Pa., (AP) -- LUKE A BOYLAN, aged 48, of 142 Portage Street, Lilly, a Pittsburgh division locomotive fireman, was killed instantly this morning at 7:18 o'clock when struck by an eastbound passenger train in the Altoona Yard near the Fourth Street Bridge.
Dr. Daniel M. Replogle, Blair County Coroner, and his deputy, Edgar M. Walls, who investigated the fatal accident, reported that the body was found between the No. 3 and No. 4 tracks. Injuries included the mangling of both feet, a broken right arm, possible fracture of the skull and internal injuries.
The report of the accident prepared by Pennsylvania Railroad officials and corroborated by Coroner Replogle after questioning of train crews and yard employees, indicates that MR. BOYLAN, fireman for Engineer L. S. Dodson of 104 Chestnut Avenue, had gone to the nearby Wertz tower to learn when his freight train would depart for the west.
He was presumably returning to the locomotive to report to the engineer when struck by the engine of eastbound passenger train No. 65, which had left the Altoona passenger station a short time earlier. The fireman apparently was on the No. 3 passenger track when struck.
The body was turned over to the Edgar W. Jones Funeral Home pending shipment to the C. A. Diamond funeral home at South Fork.
MR. BOYLAN had spent Christmas day with members of his family at the home in Lilly, being called to work early this morning.